sollicitudo (may 2016)

"Sollicitudo" is a 2D platformer I created for my Final project of the Spring 2016 semester at Parsons School of Design using Unity 3D. The game examines what it's like to live with social anxiety. Players alternate between the hectic and scary social realm where giant eyes are always watching, and the safe and comforting solitary realm where stress is alleviated and the worries of the social realm melt away. In order to finish the level, players must balance their time between the two worlds and learn to embrace both.

This is the first project I've worked on that takes a more personal tone. Truthfully, it was difficult to put myself out there and advertise the fact that I experience social anxiety. However, because games are such an immersive and interactive medium, I think they can be powerful tools for creating empathy. By putting players in the shoes of a character experiencing a very literal interpretation of social anxiety, I can hopefully help people understand an issue they may otherwise know nothing about. With this project, I challenged myself to overcome my inner critic and really put myself into my work. While my goal is not necessarily to create auto-biographical games, I think that it was an important step for me to give a voice to something that I usually try to actively ignore. 

Check out the game on GitHub: https://github.com/PFranklinM/Sollicitudo